You may have already read about it, but today Kate Manchizzle and I launch a website we’ve been working together on: Rainy City Stories. It’s been fun flexing my web developing muscles on something creative and Manc-centric, and we’re both happy with what we’ve produced:

We’ve created an interactive literary cityscape that enables you to click on a location in Manchester and read a story or poem set there. To start the project off we’re commissioning site-specific stories from some of the area’s most exciting established writers, but you can tell us your own story too.

There are already four stories up from these commissioned writers - Nicholas Royle, Rajeev Balasubramanyam, Mike Duff and Jackie Kay - and they’re based around a good spread of locations: Moss Nook, Chorlton, Victoria Station and Whalley Range.

We’ve also had several submissions from the public, which’ll be going up very soon too. While it’s been mostly short stories so far, we’re also hoping for plenty of poetry submissions - and maybe even some multimedia stuff (photo stories, comic strips, audio, video etc). Click here to submit your own story to the map.

There’ll be more commissioned work added to Rainy City Stories in 2009, plus workshops and live lit events. If you’re interested in receiving updates about these - and in reading new Mancunian literature - please subscribe via RSS, email or Twitter.

Rainy City Stories is part of the Manchester Literature Festival, which begins next Thursday, and is supported by Arts Council England. I’d really appreciate any feedback, either as a comment here or on the RCS site itself.

I haven’t unveiled the literature project I’m currently working on yet, partly because there’s so much happening in the city right now. More on that soon - but for now here are a couple of brand new things for those literary of heart.

Today Manchester University’s Centre for New Writing launches an online journal, The Manchester Review. As well as a cracking name, it’s got a great exclusive: the first chapter of Booker Prize-winner John Banville’s forthcoming novel The Sinking City. No wonder the Guardian’s Books section made it Site of the Week.

Issue one of the biannual journal features 16 pieces in total, from a short extract of one of Chris Killen’s poems to a video of RNCM composition teacher Larry Groves’ setting of a poem for contemporary music and theatre ensemble Psappha. And that’s not a one-off, with ‘a mix of new music, public debate, visual art and video as well as fiction and poetry’ promised for future issues.

Also at/near the university today, a poetry night called The Other Room is taking place in The Old Abbey Inn (the lesser-known Kro) on Pencroft Way from 7pm. It’s organised by the same people who run the Openned experimental poetry website, which I wrote about in January.

Tonight’s free event features David Annwn, Caroline Bergvall and Joy as Tiresome Vandalism.

While Manchester’s long-established music conference In The City is booking Jarvis Cocker to talk about lyrics in popular song, down the road in Salford a new music event is adding its own finishing touches.

With the tagline ‘Music and Pies’, Un-convention is evidently a two-day, three-night conference with a difference: it’s designed to debate the future of DIY labels, self-releasing bands, promoters, agents, entrepreneurs, innovators… basically all aspects of independent music.

But, before all non-industry types log off, it’s also complemented by a showcase of bands, with familiar names such as Down The Tiny Steps, Stranger Son of WB, Denis Jones, Sophie’s Pigeons, John Stammers, Cats in Paris and Toolshed scheduled to appear during the evening showcases at the ever-excellent Sacred Trinity Church on Chapel Street.

The daytime programme includes panels devoted to independent labels, live music, getting exposure and innovation. These two seven-hour sessions - also at the church - will be broken up by acoustic showcases featuring the likes of Magic Arm.

Those involved - either in organising, chairing panels or just attending - include Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Red Deer Club’s Duncan Sime, BBC Manchester’s Chris Long, Melodic Records’ David Cooper, Switchflicker/Club Brenda’s Jayne Compton, Club Fandango’s Matt Johnson… something of a who’s who of the city’s independent music scene.

At its most DIY and independent level, the music industry - in Manchester at least - is very friendly. But it’s great to see that some locals are thinking about more than just their next show or release. The event runs from Sunday until Tuesday evening and ticket prices vary, from £7 for an evening showcase to £25 for a full pass. Check out the Un-convention blog for more information.

Kate announced the shortlist for this year’s Manchester Blog Awards earlier today:

We had 107 separate nominations this year, coming in from as far away as San Francisco. There was such a wealth of great stuff that it was harder than ever to do the shortlisting, particularly in the Best Writing on a Blog category (by far our most nominated-for).

Best New Blog:

Dear Kitty
Coco LaVerne
Follow The Yellow Brick Road
14sandwiches

Best Writing on a Blog:

Diary of a Bluestocking
Every day I lie a little
Nine chains to the moon
Chicken and Pies

Best Arts and Culture Blog:

Scatterdrum
Quit This Pampered Town
Northernnights
Max Dunbar

Best Personal Blog:

Travels with my baby
Single Mother on the Verge
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
40three

Best Neighbourhood Blog:

Hyde Daily Photo
Mancubist
Lady Levenshulme
Manchester Bus

There are plenty of good blogs in the shortlist - and loads of new names too, which is obviously great to see. I’ll be checking out my competition in the new neighbourhood category over the next couple of days… (thanks for the nomination).

Judges this year are the MEN’s online editor Sarah Hartley, MDDA’s Dave Carter and Chris Killen, who writes Days of Moustaches and runs No Point in Not Being Friends.

The Manchester Blog Awards event takes place on Wednesday 22 October, again at Matt & Phred’s on Tib Street. If you like music and literature with just a hint of geekdom, do come down.

I was just reading Mark Page’s excellent Manchester Photography blog and spotted OldSalford.co.uk, a new photo archive site.

It exists ‘to store memories and photographs of the past and present from Salford and the surrounding areas’ (Eccles, Worseley, Pendlebury, Swinton and Bolton) - including the one above, of Broughton Suspension Bridge, which was built in 1888 and lasted until 1914.

There are dozens of photos and captions already on the site but there’s also an appeal for more, and in particular those on the ‘most wanted’ list:

• Harry Ramsdens, off Regent Road - Now demolished
• Old NatWest Bank, Broad Street - Now Security Office
• Old Salford Crescent Police Station - Before boarding up
• Old Swinton Police Station - Now demolished
• Old Salford Market / Precinct
• Langworthy Road - before current upgrading
• Yates’s Swinton Precinct - before its closure

Contact them or post on their forum if you’ve got something to share or are looking for specific images.